This invention relates to methods and systems for the recovery of subsurface liquids having a specific gravity less than one and, more particularly, to a novel and efficient system for recovering and separating fuel oil, and the like, from the ground water table.
Underground storage tanks are typical enclosures for fuel oil reserves. Defective and decaying tanks may crack and leak their contents into the subsurface, ultimately reaching the water table and contaminating the ground water supply. Fuel oil and other liquid contaminants may also enter the ground water due to leaks or spills above ground level. Since oil and water are generally immiscible substances, with the specific gravity of oil being lower than that of water, oil will collect and form a layer atop of a body of water. Means to collect oil layers found in ground water usually require the drilling of a well for access to the water table and some sort of mechanical pumping device to force the oil up to the surface. Existing systems use external power for pumping or lifting the oil from the recovery well and/or for regulating the height of the surface level in the well.
It is therefore a main object of the present invention to provide a system for the removal and separation of fuel oil from ground water which requires no external power to operate.
A further object is to provide a system for the removal and separation of fuel oil from ground water which relies upon the difference in specific gravities of fuel oil and water as its principle of operation.
Still another object is to provide a system for the removal and separation of fuel oil from ground water whose fuel oil removal capacity is limited only by the size of the water/storage tank and the size of the tubing to the well.
A still further object is to provide an inexpensive, flexible system for the removal and recovery of fuel oil from ground water which requires no maintenance except for an occasional flushing of the lines.
Other objects will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.